If it's not this than it's that
by lilkawa
Summary: Catherine Chandler's number's up


_Person of Interest _and _Beauty and The Beast_ don't belong to me.

I'm not sure what precincts Carter and Catherine work at so I just made up my own, sorry about that, secondly I can't stand Cal so…I hope they're not too out of character.

**If it's not this then it's that**

"She's a detective," Carter told Reese, "any number of people could have it out for her."

Detective Carter was used to their requests by now, and she'd been round the block long enough to know that killers didn't take the day off and they certainly didn't care if you were having an off day or not. Still, she couldn't help but wish that John hadn't called and asked her to run a check on someone, especially a fellow law enforcement officer, especially one that worked at the same precinct that Cal the leech worked at. She was still angry at Cal but mostly at herself, she had thought that she was better judge of character.

She opened Catherine Chandler's file and read through it, a very talented young woman who was going to do very well for herself in the force. The only interesting thing she could find was that incident where Chandler had claimed that a beast had saved her life nine years ago.

000

Reese followed Catherine home to her apartment and stood across the street, in another building watching. He had already cloned her phone and was not surprised to hear her sister Heather talking to her about wedding dates, their father's wedding was a few days away and Catherine didn't have a date yet. Reese smiled to himself, thinking how simple their lives were and then he heard another, gravelly male voice. He hadn't seen that person enter the building and he wondered if he would be too late to save her.

He rushed to her apartment but their conversation stopped him midstride and he listened instead as Catherine and Vincent talked about why it wouldn't be advisable for Vincent to go with her as her date to her father's wedding.

"_There's also the fact that you're meant to be dead."_

"_There's a group of people out there that want you dead."_

"_You would Vincent Salanski to him forever I couldn't do that to you…"_

"_I can live with being Vincent Salanski forever."_

Who was that guy, Reese wondered, and why didn't he use the front door.

000

Reese followed the young man back to a warehouse that was supposed to be abandoned. A quick check by Finch informed that another young man, JT Forbes a biochemistry professor at the university lived there. Further checking by Finch also brought up the name Vincent Keller. Finch was able to check out Vincent Keller and they found out that he had died in Afghanistan ten years ago.

"He must have been the man in Chandler's apartment," Reese said.

"I agree, Mr. Reese," Finch replied. "From their conversation, I'm sure he's not the one trying to kill her."

"So I guess, it's not personal then," Reese said.

"Must be a case that we've overlooked," Finch agreed. "I'll look through them again."

000

"I'm Detective Carter from the 9th," Carter introduced herself to Catherine and Tess.

"Oh yes," Catherine said. "Joe told us you were coming, I'm sorry it took so long to get the evidence over to you guys." Tess told them that she would go to the evidence lockup and get it for Carter.

"It's okay," Carter replied. She looked around Catherine's desk and asked, "You're looking for a wedding date?"

"How did you…?" Catherine began to ask and then saw the matchmaking pamphlets that were littering her desk.

"It's okay to go without a date, you know," Carter told her.

"Trying telling my dad, his fiancée and my sister, that."

Carter nodded in understanding and they both laughed.

"The worst thing is," Catherine continued, "that a few weeks ago Tess and I went undercover at a matchmaking firm, you know to investigate the date of one their clients."

"Oh yes, I remember that one," Carter said, "they were stealing and one of the clients threatened to expose them and they killed him and tried to frame another of their clients."

"Yes." Catherine paused; she really wished she could go with Vincent to the wedding. Maybe she could, all she had to do was hide him, who was she kidding that could never work and it would expose him to danger not to mention the fact that was totally unfair.

"So what happened?" Carter prompted her.

"Oh," Catherine said, "she had actually found me a date, a date I never got to meet, because the husband was arrested and the woman left the city, I wish I met him though."

000

The wedding was in full swing, and Catherine had even managed to dance with Vincent who had surprised her by showing up at the wedding. Unfortunately their bliss didn't last, they had an argument and he left.

Catherine looked at the flat tyre on Heather's car and shook her head, she had to find another car and go and find Vincent as soon as possible.

Sabrina Myers stood in the shadows watching Catherine, and thought to herself that maybe her plan of puncturing Heather Chandler's tyres hadn't been too bright. She couldn't kill the detective at her father's wedding; she needed her out on the road where the investigators would think that it had been an accident.

"I'm headed back into town, you're if need a lift," Reese said to Catherine.

"Thanks John, you're a lifesaver," Catherine got into the car. She had met John at the rehearsal dinner and then again at the wedding and he seemed like a nice man, but then she also had her gun so if he tried anything she would shoot him and then arrest him.

"So where are you rushing to?"

"I need to talk to someone," Catherine replied.

"Let me guess, the guy you were dancing with."

"Yes, actually." Catherine had hoped that their stolen dance had gone unnoticed. Well, at least her dad and Heather hadn't seen Vincent.

Reese was able to stop the car from overturning and it came to a screeching halt. Sabrina Myers got out of the car that had tried to run them off the road and pulled out a gun.

When Catherine saw the other woman, she tried to get out of the car but Reese stopped her. "Stay down," he told her.

"I know you're in the car Detective Chandler," Sabrina said. "You ruined my happily ever after and now I've come to make sure you never have one." She fired three shots.

Reese shot her in the arm and she dropped her gun screaming.

000

"Thank you for saving my life," Catherine told Reese.

"I'm sure that someone else would have done that if I hadn't been around," Reese assured her smiling.

"What are you talking about?"

"Vincent Keller," Reese replied. "Your resident guardian angel."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Catherine told him. "Vincent Keller died almost ten years ago."

"I know a few people like that myself," Reese assured her. "Don't worry; his secret is safe with us, as long as he doesn't start killing innocent people."

Catherine watched him walk away and shook her head wondering who he really was, where he had come from and how he knew all those things about them. He turned and smiled at her and Catherine thought to herself that it didn't really matter who he was, where he was from and how he knew what he knew, all that mattered was that when she had needed him he'd been there. Just like Vincent.

She climbed up the stairs to her apartment.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you," Vincent said.

"It doesn't matter," Catherine assured him, "you're here now."

000

What do you think?


End file.
